Libya Now, Iran Then: How Close Are We to 1979? Gonzalo Lira. Excerpts:
Today, the UK’s Telegraph is reporting that British government drones in Whitehall are figuring out the legal means to seize Muammar al-Gaddafi’s assets in Britain, which are said to total some £20 billion.
..
That these assets are going to be seized is, according to the story, a done deal: The only issue seems to be the legal means by which to do so—
—which means that the British government isn’t worried about pissing off Gaddafi—
—which means that Gaddafi’s days in power are numbered: Whitehall would never dare seize his UK assets, unless they were sure that Gaddafi won’t be around to exact revenge or retribution. After all, the Brits let the Lockerbie Bomber go in 2009, in order to shore up relations with Gaddafi.
Lira's article continues by exploring a comparison of economic/global circumstances between '79's Iranian Revolution and and Now. Short answer? 2011 does not fare well, as circumstances in 1979 were way better. Way better.
My point being, England has assessed that Gaddafi is, without a doubt, going down. Killed or Captured or Captured Then Killed, they're sure he's not going to talk, so they're going for his cash. Not the worst thing in the world, right? Lira then brings up the possibility of the beginnings of what could be many oil shocks, the likes of which America can't survive.. Excerpts from original article..
Now, what happened after 1979’s Iranian Oil Shock? Like I said: Severe inflation, unemployment, and a Fed that had to raise rates catastrophically, in order to stop an inflation that was spiralling out of control.
But back in 1979, there was no kindling for that inflationary fire. Federal Reserve money policies were fairly responsible. The Federal government’s total debt and liabilities was less than 50% of GDP. Back in 1979, the U-3 unemployment rate was about 5%, compared to over 9% today.
Back in 1979, there was no ZIRP, no QE2, no $1.6 trillion deficit. There weren’t so many freshly-minted dollars sloshing around, looking for yields like army ants looking for dead meat. There wasn’t a total government debt that was bigger than the total gross domestic product of the United States.
In short, back in 1979, the economy, the fiscal situation and the monetary policy were far healthier than they are today.
Yet the 1979 Oil Shock brought us the worst recession since the Great Depression.
And that is very, very bad for us today, in 2011.
Seriously: Shouldn't we be taking all the alternative energy projects off the back burner and fast tracking Every Bit Of It right now? We as a society can see the potential cataclysm in front of us: Shouldn't we start talking about directions away from disaster, or at least trying to cushion the impact?
Then again, it was Way Too Late way before I wrote these words.
The Tsunami Approaches, and we stare; transfixed.
Today, the UK’s Telegraph is reporting that British government drones in Whitehall are figuring out the legal means to seize Muammar al-Gaddafi’s assets in Britain, which are said to total some £20 billion.
..
That these assets are going to be seized is, according to the story, a done deal: The only issue seems to be the legal means by which to do so—
—which means that the British government isn’t worried about pissing off Gaddafi—
—which means that Gaddafi’s days in power are numbered: Whitehall would never dare seize his UK assets, unless they were sure that Gaddafi won’t be around to exact revenge or retribution. After all, the Brits let the Lockerbie Bomber go in 2009, in order to shore up relations with Gaddafi.
Lira's article continues by exploring a comparison of economic/global circumstances between '79's Iranian Revolution and and Now. Short answer? 2011 does not fare well, as circumstances in 1979 were way better. Way better.
My point being, England has assessed that Gaddafi is, without a doubt, going down. Killed or Captured or Captured Then Killed, they're sure he's not going to talk, so they're going for his cash. Not the worst thing in the world, right? Lira then brings up the possibility of the beginnings of what could be many oil shocks, the likes of which America can't survive.. Excerpts from original article..
Now, what happened after 1979’s Iranian Oil Shock? Like I said: Severe inflation, unemployment, and a Fed that had to raise rates catastrophically, in order to stop an inflation that was spiralling out of control.
But back in 1979, there was no kindling for that inflationary fire. Federal Reserve money policies were fairly responsible. The Federal government’s total debt and liabilities was less than 50% of GDP. Back in 1979, the U-3 unemployment rate was about 5%, compared to over 9% today.
Back in 1979, there was no ZIRP, no QE2, no $1.6 trillion deficit. There weren’t so many freshly-minted dollars sloshing around, looking for yields like army ants looking for dead meat. There wasn’t a total government debt that was bigger than the total gross domestic product of the United States.
In short, back in 1979, the economy, the fiscal situation and the monetary policy were far healthier than they are today.
Yet the 1979 Oil Shock brought us the worst recession since the Great Depression.
And that is very, very bad for us today, in 2011.
Seriously: Shouldn't we be taking all the alternative energy projects off the back burner and fast tracking Every Bit Of It right now? We as a society can see the potential cataclysm in front of us: Shouldn't we start talking about directions away from disaster, or at least trying to cushion the impact?
Then again, it was Way Too Late way before I wrote these words.
The Tsunami Approaches, and we stare; transfixed.
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